hey peeps, just looking for some animation crit on this, a mini-project i did for uni on a George Meastri project. i'm mainly trying to improve my animation principles and implementation of them so please tell me what you think.

It's supposed to be a puppy expressed through a toaster, sounds odd i know.
http://s04.imagehost.org/0755/ToastFirstScreen.jpg

(links need pasting into browser)

This is his walk cycle (more of a bound really) where i was trying to get secondary motion, anticipation and a sense of weight. please let me know if i've acheived any of these.
http://get.filehosting.org/fo10714.mov

this is a quick setup of him (Terry, if anyone wanted to know!) lapping at his teddy-bear head (his favourite toy!) i wasn't as happy with this one, so please let me know what to change!
http://get.filehosting.org/bj10715.mov

cheers,

basse

11 November 2004, 07:23 AM

the jumping is good. but the licking action took me awhlie to understand what it was doing. I would add quite a lot more motion to that one.. put the whole body to motion, as the little dogs usually do.. bend their backs, nod their heads.

.b

Mungo J

11 November 2004, 07:40 AM

cheers basse, i knew that one was missing a lot, but i'm not thinking so straight at the moment, it's 7.30 am in the UK now(it's also nearly light), and i've just rendered those clips off and found somewhere to host them, but have to stop working in a bit to go to see an EA presentation at my uni's "CGI extravaganza" (as they put it).

i hate them as a corporation, but hope there may be good individuals there talking, or at least a chance to poke fun at them.

whoops, off the point, but i'll give that a go sometime in the next 24 hrs and post.

The jumping has got good gravity and seems convincing with the body squashing and the toungue having strap-on movement. The only thing I see is that the backfeets are sliding on the floor.

In both previews you get the impression that this is one happy puppy which likes to play. It's a good idea to make the toaster move and live like a dog, since we all know how dogs behave and can see it more clearly in the toaster.

Its cool.

Kanga

11 November 2004, 04:40 PM

Hey!

Great jumpin domestic appliances.:)
Went through frame by frame,... nice loop.

I'd have the whole thing squash as it hits the floor(takes off) and stretch up as it launches,... in the horizontal (z axis).

Looking good man,... when do we get to see the 'plug tail' that lags behind the action?

Cheers

DaddyMack

11 November 2004, 08:39 PM

OK now this is different (BTW George Maestri anim books:thumbsup: )

Hi Mungo J, nice job man, I agree with the squash n stretch comment from kanga and would add maybe that you could take it (bound) even further by adding a little stall in the air...Go jump on a trampoline and feel that moment in time when you're not going up or down (I love my trampoline). Maybe have his 'legs' flail slightly coming into and going out of the stall for some real character. Lapping is just plain wierd..melikee I'd maybe get his 'tongue' to bend when he licks and flick at the end of said lick.

Keep up the originality Mungo J:thumbsup:

Mungo J

11 November 2004, 08:45 PM

thanks aghill and kanga for your appreciation, i'm glad you guys all think i actually captured the puppys attitudes, and will definitely add the squash like you (kanga) suggested. with the foot slippage (re:aghill's comments) the cycle is an on-the-spot version of a moving walk cycle, so the slippage will be eradicated by the movement, but thanks anyway.

this project is getting harder and harder now as i am realising the rig is really crap, and suits the bounding along, but i'm having trouble doing other things, but i'll see what i can do.

i can't really put too much time into this one as i have a group design project which (unfortunately) comes before personal work, but any sleepless nights (most of them!) i'll keep chipping away at this project and see if i can ram together a mini-short (30 secs. or so) in a while.

thanks for all your comments, i'll probly post again in a couple of days.

just to let anyone interested know, the presentation with EA was laughable, their Manager of Recruitment ended up there instead of Art Management, and it was so cheesy i was holding back laughter in a lecture theater full of (supposedly) serious students and industry and press reps, man they had EA staff reading cards next to the camera saying "The studio here is better than home" and other such attempts at propoganda, oops sorry i could go on all day.....

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